Mara's Musings

This is one of 2 blogs regarding issues occuring between a client and a web designer and is a response to enquiries about what to do if you fall foul of someone who is maybe less than professional about how they run their web design business.

We can all get into difficulties in our business dealings with others. A professional web designer would obviously try to convince a client stay with them - its good business! But what happens when the client simply wants to move on and the web designer gets difficult?

So where does the client stand?

First of all, providing you have paid the account in full for the website, it is your property.

Always read the Designer's Terms and Conditions before undertaking a contract. For example my Code of Ethics prevents my designs from being used for illegal or immoral purposes. If the client later edits the website and it breaches this code, I will then take action to have my designs removed by legal means, from that site.
The designer has no right at all, providing you have paid the bills, to keep any of the work they have done on the site. They cannot keep your passwords to prevent you logging into the system, or prevent you from giving them to another web designer so they can manage the site on your behalf.    If you have hosted your website with the designer you have the right to have your website displayed there until your hosting expires at which point they should notify you at least 14 days before this happens so your site does not disappear.

They most certainly do not have the right to take the website off line or to tamper with the code, databases, design or content in any way shape or form so that the website does not function.

Both of these cases are legimate reasons to instigate legal action against the designer.

My advice is that if you have a problem with the designer of your site that you attempt to iron out the difficulties with them. If you decide to move on and they act maliciously it may be quicker and cheaper simply to get a new website designed. Searching through a lot of coding which may or have not been corrupted takes a lot of time and most designers charge for this by the hour.

This may sound like the worst case scenario but in actual fact clients are often very pleased with their new and revamped website and wonder why they had not done it before!

In Part 2 I will look at when the business relationship breaks down from the designers viewpoint and what steps they can legally take to seek recompense from a non-paying client.